How Much Does Drywall Installation Cost in 2026?
National ranges, materials + labor, per sq ft of board · Pricing data updated · Reviewed annually
Drywall installation costs $1.70–$3.20 per square foot of board at the standard Level 4 finish, hung and finished, materials and labor included. A 12×12 room with an 8 ft ceiling works out to $900 to $1,700, and a 2,000 sq ft house to $10,250 to $19,250. The finish level is the driver most homeowners never hear about: it separates a wall that is ready for texture from one that is ready for gloss paint.
Before comparing bids, check the unit. Drywall is priced per square foot of board — the wall and ceiling surface being covered — not per square foot of floor. Get that wrong and a quote looks three times cheaper than it is. The free drywall calculator turns your room dimensions into board area, sheets and compound.
Board area, not floor area
This is the single most common bid-comparison mistake. A 144 sq ft room (12×12) with an 8 ft ceiling has 384 sq ft of wall plus 144 sq ft of ceiling — 528 sq ft of board. Across a whole house, board area lands near 3.2× the floor area.
| Floor area | Board area (wall + ceiling) | 4×8 sheets |
|---|---|---|
| 144 sq ft | 374 – 533 sq ft | 12 – 17 |
| 400 sq ft | 1,040 – 1,480 sq ft | 33 – 47 |
| 800 sq ft | 2,080 – 2,960 sq ft | 65 – 93 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 5,200 – 7,400 sq ft | 163 – 232 |
Priced by the sheet instead, a 4×8 panel hung and finished runs $30–$70. Example: a 144 sq ft room needs about 15 sheets.
Cost by finish level (GA-214)
The Gypsum Association's GA-214 standard defines how far the finishing goes, and it is the biggest lever on a drywall bid. Levels 0 through 2 are for concealed areas, storage spaces and walls that will be tiled. Residential work is Level 3, 4 or 5.
| Finish level | Installed / sq ft | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Level 3 — texture-ready | $1.50–$2.75 | For walls getting medium or heavy texture; not a smooth painted wall |
| Level 4 — standard | $1.70–$3.20 | The residential default: flat or eggshell paint, light texture |
| Level 5 — full skim | $1.75–$3.50 | Skim coat over the whole surface for gloss paint or raking light |
Most cost guides put the Level 5 labor premium at 25–50% over Level 4, which is more than the published per-square-foot bands suggest on their own. A Level 5 quote only a few percent above Level 4 is worth questioning: a true Level 5 is a skim coat over every square inch, not just better taping.
Where the money goes
Labor is 65–75% of an installed drywall price. Hanging is the fast part; taping and finishing is the skilled part, and it is what shows under paint.
| Component | Per sq ft of board |
|---|---|
| Materials (board, screws, tape, compound, bead) | $0.50–$0.80 |
| Hanging labor | $0.85–$1.90 |
| Tape and finish labor | $0.35–$1.10 |
Cost by project
Typical jobs at each finish level, national average, before demo or upgrades. Each range is the installed rate times the board area.
| Project | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small bathroom5×8 ft — ~250 sq ft of board | $400 – $700 | $400 – $800 | $400 – $900 |
| Single room12×12 ft, walls + ceiling — 528 sq ft of board | $800 – $1,500 | $900 – $1,700 | $900 – $1,800 |
| Two-car garage20×20 ft — ~1,000 sq ft of board | $1,500 – $2,750 | $1,700 – $3,250 | $1,800 – $3,500 |
| Room addition~400 sq ft of floor — ~1,300 sq ft of board | $2,000 – $3,500 | $2,250 – $4,250 | $2,250 – $4,500 |
| Finished basement~800 sq ft of floor — ~2,000 sq ft of board | $3,000 – $5,500 | $3,500 – $6,500 | $3,500 – $7,000 |
| Whole house~2,000 sq ft of floor — ~6,000 sq ft of board | $9,000 – $16,500 | $10,250 – $19,250 | $10,500 – $21,000 |
Estimate your drywall project
Pick the job, the finish level and your region, then add what your project needs. Each add-on shows what it costs before you turn it on.
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What the add-ons cost
Priced against a single 528 sq ft room at Level 4. Each is priced once and added, not stacked on the others.
| Add-on | What's involved | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Tear out existing drywall | Remove and dispose of old board (~$0.50–$2.50/sq ft) | +$300 – $1,300 |
| Tear out plaster and lath | Far heavier and slower than drywall demo (~$2.50–$6/sq ft) | +$1,350 – $3,050 |
| Texture (orange peel or knockdown) | Sprayed texture over the finished board (~$0.80–$2/sq ft) | +$400 – $1,050 |
| Popcorn ceiling removal | Scrape and refinish — test pre-1980s texture for asbestos first | +$500 – $3,050 |
| High, stairwell or cathedral ceilings | Scaffolding and awkward panel handling above 9 ft | +$100 – $550 |
| 5/8" Type X fire-rated board | Required on attached-garage separations (IRC R302.6) | +$100 – $200 |
| Moisture / mold-resistant board | Green or purple board for baths, laundry and basements | +$100 – $200 |
| Soundproof panels | QuietRock-type laminated board (~$40–$70 a sheet vs ~$15) | +$300 – $800 |
Test before you scrape a popcorn ceiling. Texture and joint compound from before the 1980s can contain asbestos. A lab test runs a few hundred dollars; abatement is a licensed trade and is not in these ranges.
Cost by region
Drywall is labor-heavy, so wages drive the spread. The South Central and Southeast states run below the national average; West Coast and Northeast metros run well above it.
| Region | Typical areas | Single room | Whole house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower-cost area | South Central, Southeast | $800 – $1,400 | $8,750 – $16,250 |
| National average | Most metros | $900 – $1,700 | $10,250 – $19,250 |
| High-cost metro | West Coast, Northeast metros | $1,300 – $2,250 | $14,250 – $27,000 |
Drywall repair cost
Most people land here for a hole, not a remodel. A typical repair job averages $610, with most between $295 and $925. The economics run backwards from new work: the smaller the repair, the more it costs per square foot, because setup and travel dominate.
| Repair | Cost |
|---|---|
| Nail pop or small dent | $10 – $60 |
| Doorknob hole | $75 – $200 |
| Patch up to about 1 sq ft | $150 – $350 |
| Replace a section of sheet | $250 – $800 |
| Water-damaged ceiling section | $400 – $1,550 |
| Contractor minimumbundle your repairs | $100 – $650 |
The texture-match trap: matching an existing orange-peel or knockdown texture on a patch adds about $100–$300 per patch, and it is the line most quotes leave out. Handymen charge $60–$90 an hour.
DIY drywall: what you save and where it goes wrong
Materials alone run $0.50–$0.80 per square foot of board, so on a single room the board, screws, tape and compound are a small part of a professional bid. Since labor is 65–75% of the price, the savings are real, but so is the work. Hanging walls is reasonable for a confident DIYer. Ceilings need a panel lift ($34–$65 a day to rent) or two people, since a sheet weighs 50–70 lb overhead. Level 4 finishing is the skill wall: taping and feathering is what shows under paint, and it is the part most DIYers hire out. Level 5 is a pro job. Budget $150–$400 for tools if you're starting from nothing.
What these ranges don't include
National ranges, materials + labor combined, priced per square foot of board (wall + ceiling surface), not floor area. Excludes framing and blocking, insulation, electrical box relocation, asbestos testing and abatement in pre-1980s joint compound or popcorn texture, mold remediation, and painting.
- Framing and blocking: a separate trade, priced before the board goes up.
- Insulation: see the insulation cost page.
- Electrical box relocation: moving outlets and switches is electrician's work.
- Asbestos: joint compound and popcorn texture from before the 1980s can contain it. Test first; abatement is excluded.
- Mold remediation: common behind water-damaged board, and a separate trade.
- Painting: see the interior painting cost page.
Where these numbers come from
Ranges reconcile national published data from HomeGuide (2025), Angi (2026) and HomeAdvisor with the finish-level definitions in the Gypsum Association's GA-214 standard. The finish-level table is HomeGuide's published per-level pricing rather than a derived estimate. Project totals are the installed rate times the board area, so every table on this page agrees with the others. Totals are rounded to the nearest $100 under $2,000 and $250 above; a national estimate quoted to the dollar is false precision. This page was last computed from data updated . For your own job, get at least three written bids, and make sure each one names a finish level.
Ready to price the actual job?
The free drywall calculator turns your room dimensions into board area, sheet count, screws, tape and joint compound — including how much compound each GA-214 finish level takes. No signup.
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Don't forget disposal in the budget
A project this size usually needs a rolloff dumpster, and rental plus overage fees are a real line item. See the right container size and what disposal typically adds to the budget.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does drywall installation cost per square foot?
Installed drywall runs $1.70–$3.20 per square foot of board at a standard Level 4 finish, materials and labor included. Watch the unit: that is per square foot of wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. A room's board area is roughly 2.6× to 3.7× its floor area, so a quote priced off floor area looks about three times cheaper than it really is.
How much does it cost to drywall a 12x12 room?
A 12×12 room with an 8 ft ceiling is 528 sq ft of board (384 sq ft of wall plus 144 of ceiling). At a Level 4 finish that runs $900 to $1,700. A full Level 5 skim coat takes it to $900 to $1,800. Leaving the ceiling out drops it by roughly a quarter.
What is the difference between Level 4 and Level 5 drywall?
Level 4 is the residential standard: taped joints with three coats of compound, ready for flat or eggshell paint. Level 5 adds a skim coat of compound over the entire surface, which is what you need under gloss paint or where raking light crosses a wall. Level 3 is a texture substrate, not a smooth wall. Most guides put the Level 5 labor premium at 25–50% over Level 4, though published per-square-foot bands overlap more than that, so ask what a Level 5 quote actually includes.
How much does it cost to drywall a basement?
About 2,000 sq ft of board for an 800 sq ft basement, which runs $3,500 to $6,500 at a Level 4 finish. Basements usually want moisture or mold-resistant board on the walls, and that adds to the total; the estimator above prices it. Tearing out old board or a plaster ceiling is a separate line.
How much does it cost to drywall a whole house?
A 2,000 sq ft house is roughly 6,000 sq ft of board, about $10,250 to $19,250 at a Level 4 finish. Published guides quote $8,000 to $30,000 for the same house; the top of that spread is a Level 5 finish in a high-cost metro.
How much does it cost to drywall a garage?
A two-car garage is about 1,000 sq ft of board. With the 5/8-inch Type X fire-rated board that IRC R302.6 requires on the separation between a garage and the house, it runs $1,800 to $3,500. Garages are usually finished to Level 2 or 3 rather than Level 4, which brings the price down.
Is drywall labor or material more expensive?
Labor, by a wide margin: it is 65–75% of the installed price. Materials run $0.50–$0.80 per square foot of board, hanging labor $0.85–$1.90, and taping and finishing $0.35–$1.10. That is why doing your own hanging saves less than people expect, and why finishing is the part worth paying for.
How much does drywall repair cost?
A typical repair job averages $610, with most falling between $295 and $925. A nail pop is $10–$60 and a doorknob hole $75–$200, but most contractors carry a minimum of $100–$650, so bundle every hole, dent and crack into one visit.
Do these prices include drywall waste?
Yes. Installed per-square-foot bids include waste, labor and finishing. Waste matters when you buy board yourself: the free drywall calculator adds 10% on walls and 14% on ceilings and converts your dimensions into sheets, screws and compound.